| Show expressions FROM THE PEOPLE ANTI lawn LAWS AS RY BY THE PLEASANT GROVE groe december 10 editor deseret mews mems I 1 send you a few reflections on the situation audgo hays of idaho in enforcing the edmunds law says that the imoe mor mons in persisting to cling dins to their religious faith falth are tanj tani tampering with an avalanche that will eventually come down upon them and grind them to powder now tho the facts in the case arc are that the great american people in their zeal to destroy the Saint saints sare are undermining 11 the great republic the best government the world ever produced oy by removing the foundation stones thereof viz religious liberty freedom f of conscience etc and if it they do not speedily retrace their steps and repair the injury the great structure will come comedown down with a mighty crash spreading reading s untold misery and destruction tr on upon all they think and are made to believe by the great flood hood of falsehoods and misrepresentations that the great danger lies in the religion of a little handful of people in utah it makes ma the norse horse that was blind iaone a bride bridge that had no railing he ho could see the tile danger dauger on one tidy sid yand and shied from it and fell ell f into the river on the other side and was drowned when the edmunds law was passed assed a few members of congress able abie abr lawyers and statesmen pointed out the danger but if it was not heeded many voted for it reluctantly but public sentiment demanded the law and some rabid members said let unmake us make it constitution of no constitution I 1 lam iam am charitable enough to believe that if they had known the use that would be made of the law but few would have voted for it they never dreamed that it would punish a misdemeanor with imprisonment for life and confiscation of all the tho offenders property even if ho he were worth half a million dollars but so it is construed by the federal judges on the bench even mr edmunds whose name it bears would have opposed such an air incerpi e tation with all his power at brimful of animosity toward the Saints Sainta he is too much of a lawyer for thad thac and has too high a regard for his tre tie as a jurist and man of honor the legislators with all their experience and legal knowledge were en entirely ignorant of the fact that the law was so elastic until the tho learned judges on the bench made the discovery and showed it to them thet and no doubt they will correct the blunder this session by repealing the obnoxious measure the penalty attached att acted to the edmunds n law as at present construed is the severest that man can inflict on his fellows the death penalty is more humane and as it Is soon over and the property is left for the support of the bamily and any man of feeling would prefer it what would be greater reater torment than for a man to 11 lie lle c r in prison till all his life realizing 1 that is all confiscated and his family beggars in the cold world this Is I all ali done by the construction which the courts place upon the law which Is bothin nothing more nor less than legislation e such as thelah the lawmakers law makers proper neve never r dreamed of president arthur never would have approved the edmunds bill if lie he had known that it would inflict such a penalty he is too much of a christian to be a party to any suc sue such cruelty but I 1 am reminded that this is not new by any ahny means it was an extraordinary definition or construction of 0 f law that nailed jesus christ to the cross thrust a spear into his side and confiscated all his property even to the clothes hemore he wore although he was a holy being and never transgressed any law human humal a or divine the prosecution and court had to resort to constructions in order to destroy him the law that was so perverted was given by god himself through moses irom sinal sinai there is a proposition to have a le legislative rr isla tive commission to make laws dor kor for utan thus taking all rights of self government from the people now if a comm commission assion for such a purpose must be had bad I 1 have a suggest suggestion ioD lod to make to con congress ress 0 on n this subject W which aich I 1 think would be more economical and will accomplish everything that can possibly be desired and that Is to extend the jurisdiction of our present chief justice over the entire territory with f full ull power to enforce the law in every nook and corner he might take the laws now in force as a basis and till fill in all open questions with constructions which he is abundantly able to do and make it fit lit any case that can possibly arise and bring forth any result that maybe may be desired I 1 presume he would do the whole business without any increase of salary the of a federal judge caused the president of the united states to send the army to utah in 1857 at a cost of many mi millions ilione of dollars which h accomplished complis hed nothing desired and at the close of that administration fort sumpter was tired fired upon by rebels and the last that was heard of the judge ivas was 1 his imprisonment in chicago for stealing 4 postage stamps to buya buy lasky whisky can such characters learn anything by 1 these examples no they know 1 lothing nothing only naturally like the brute beast that Is made to be taken and destroyed it is said that whom the gods would destroy they first make madi mady mad and that their mills though grinding slowly do very line fine work surely aurely the dav of the transgressor transgress gr is hard god say saya 1 I will laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear co cometh cometti 11 for them I 1 can only say 1 I am SORRY THE FIRST DISTRICT COURT AND OTHER ITEMS OGDEN CITY utah dec 15 1885 editor deseret news I 1 court opened at 10 in the usual manner A large ARRAY OF LEGAL luminaries was again in attendance to look a after f ter the she interests of their clients generally and the ducats dubats particularly the figure and features of the tile martyr vandercook graced the assembly of deputies and was to many the centre of attraction A large number of spectators filled the court room the first business called wag was that of lorenzo snow judge williamson William the counsel for defense asked for a little more time to prepare the demurrer etc ills his honor refused tog toi to grant the request and the demurrer was entered W T B gray charged with procuring abortion was then arraigned and pleaded not guilty trial set for 1 dinst tha the petit jury was excused until thursday in orning morning at 10 and the case of jas 11 nelson et for dec that of james taylor for the same day and chas chase chaff F Middle middletons tons for the autti the eureka mining case was then resumed at this stage several parties arose and left t the he court room when his hiss honor said a little tartly if f there are any others who wish to lea iea leave lease e within the next two hours they had better leave now This Thia brief advice was followed by a G GENERAL P X E L S simultaneous III rii U F 0 U S E EXODUS X 0 D U S and not more than twelve persons were lef t in the body of the hall of j ustice justice the case was wa advanced a stage davidaz Da david vidAl M stuart was next arraigned on a charge of violating the edmunds act lie he took the statutory time to plead ile he was then arraigned on a segregated CHARGE of althe the same character and took time to plead to it the case of chas W Hemenw aywas continued ull till 10 a m wednes day and that of lorenzo lorenz 0 snow at 12 noon noo n odthe same day this afternoon the grand jury came into court and presented one indictment under the territorial laws the celebrated mining case consumed nearly all the remainder of the afternoon the weather has much moderated the roads are muddy and the city fathers continue the work of improvement which is much needed in many parts of our fast growing city commercial BUSINESS has again become active and there is a visible improvement in that direction there is how evera lull in the shipping business although there has been an immense mense amount of produce of every description sent out of the country during the fall there is still a demand for utah potatoes in the west one large nm firm n m in san francisco has sent gent orders for a large shipment to be ent to the bay city whence they will be distributed to various points in arizona and other places there Is not however much advance in the price of grain or roots the decision of the united states supreme court in the cannon case took the great majority of the people here by surprise although 11 there are a few persons who say they expected no other the expressions of the citizens udon upon learning these facts coup coupled ledrith reth the tiie recent proceedings in the district courts of this territory are various some are indignant angry and out spoken while others a are arc stunned at the announcements and their f feelings appear to be TOO DEEP FOR UTTERANCE others a few receive the news with stoical indifference and a placidity of temper that seems to be entirely unruffled but the latter day saints generally era I 1 look at the bright side of everything t g and hence they feel that all t these h e things will ultimate in advancing inythe the interests and final deliverance of the he mormon community bro lle lie heber er 0 kimball used to say eay the rougher the way the shorter the stay and many here think that matters can be but little rougher for tor us than they are at the present time however they have concluded to wait and see WEBER fiust FIRST T DISTRICT COURT CITY utah dec 16 1885 editor deseret news the cases Inthe in the district court that attracted the most attention of this community today to day were those c apostle apostle lorenzo scoty and C wf tn enway the former lormer on several indictments for unlawful cohabitation and the latter tor lor libel demurrers Demur rera in each oi of these cases were interposed a and id today to day they were argued before his honor judge williams of the counsel for the defense made the argument gum n t I 1 in n the snow case in which he took tool the ground that in order to carry out the instructions of the court to the grand jury an indictment must BE FOUND FOR EACIL DAY the practice charged in the indictments men s Is continued and that the grand jury should indict the defendant for the smallest period known to the statutes the indictments name a certain period anti and charge the defendant with gavirio having committed the offense each day in the period counsel argued that only one offense could be found and cited authorities to sustain his position at the close of f his speech ins ills HONOR iio ilo kmit in a brief speech said he had previously had this matter under consideration and was prepared to give his decision in the matter at once the edmunds act was passed for the purpose of preventing infringement upon the marriage e custom as understood in the civilized world one wife for or ohe one ieman keman man the grand jury may present indictments for one day or from time to time as they are invested with great discretion in these matters his ilis honor overruled the demurrer and the defendant pleaded not guilty to the indictment MR C W argued his own case in the demurrer to the indictments against him ile he madea madeu ieng lengthy leng thy speech in which he considers liw he fully covered all the brition and in closing said hea e did not wish to escape the penalties of if he had violated it all he asked was that he receive strict justice which the court assured the defendant f enfant he should have lie he intends to publish a verba verbatim ver batum turn report of his argument in an early issue of the berald aften after a brief reply froni assistant prosecuting attorney bierbower the tase was submitted and the court cook the matter advisement ADVIS kment KHENT until 2 this afternoon but on his ills honor resuming the seat feat at the hour named mr air arthur brown resumed his argument in the celebrated mining suit and up to the time I 1 left the court room between 3 and 4 no rull ruil ngon on the demurrer had been given mr hemenway bas has also demurred to the other indictments cliar cilar charging ging him with li beling dickson mckay etc bic it is Js like ilke likewise taken tinder advisement if it is overruled this trial will commence on thursday defendant will conduct his own defense |
